Beginnings
by fitz22
Summary: Set sometime in season 1 and starts out slightly AU because at the beginning Seth is dating Anna while Marissa is still dating Luke, but otherwise is pretty true to the show. Eventually will be s/s and r/m. Read more inside.
1. Chapter 1

A/N This is my first attempt at a fic, so hopefully it will improve over time. It's set sometime in season 1 though it starts out slightly AU because Seth is dating Anna (we're passed the period of Summer ignoring Seth) while Marissa is dating Luke. Eventually it will be S/S and R/M. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

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"Just because we live near the beach, doesn't mean we have to spend all our time at the beach," Seth whined. Seth was lounging on the beach with Anna and Ryan, far from his favorite activity as it had the tendency to cause him third degree burns.

"You're only saying that because you're allergic to the sun," Anna teased.

Seth felt the need to defend himself, "I am not allergic, I just don't respond well. Besides it's not like it's my fault, it's the heritage. Jews and the sun just don't get along."

At this, Ryan felt the need to chime in, "Ahem. Isn't Israel a desert?"

"Israelis don't count. On the scale of Jew pigment, Israelis are like Erik Bana in Munich, I'm more Larry David," replied Seth.

"Spend a lot of time checking out Erik Bana?" asked Ryan while shooting him a sideways glance.

Seth quickly backpedaled, "What? No. Why would you…I would never…. I have a girlfriend. I'm very masculine."

"Sure you are sweety," Anna said in the most patronizing tone she could muster as she leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek. Turning to Ryan she asked, "So, how goes it with the proverbial girl next door?"

"I have no idea who you're talking about."

Seth decided to team up with his girlfriend, "Oh come on Ryan. A certain statuesque brunette, sort of has a thing for the quiet, wounded type. She knows that if she can just break down that tough exterior, she'll find a sweet, sensitive guy within. A sweet, sensitive guy with piercing blue eyes. And very cool wristbands."

Ryan shot him a look that clearly indicated he was creeped out before responding, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Seth has a clueless look on his face, "like what?"

"Like her boyfriend?"

Anna speaks up, "minor obstacle"

"Minor obstacle?" Ryan asked, giving her a skeptical look.

"Oh come on Ryan, I've seen the way she looks at you" Anna replied as she imitated Marissa batting her eyelashes.

"Speak of the devil," Seth pointed down the beach where none other than Marissa Cooper and Summer Roberts were setting up a volleyball game, with Luke Ward and a water polo buddy in tow. "Marissa Cooper has to dominate that game, she's like eight and a half feet tall." Seth's joke earned him an elbow from Anna. "What? She's gonna be acing the ball like Serena Williams."

"Seth, that's tennis," said Ryan with a sigh.

"Huh, I've been trying out this new thing where I incorporate sports references into my repertoire. It's been a little slow in development, but I feel like it shows real promise."

"Well, I think we should be leaving." Ryan replied as he eyed Luke Ward across the beach.

"Yeah, Seth weren't you trying to get us to leave earlier?" added Anna as she narrowed her eyes at Summer, who was laying down a towel a little ways down the beach.

"Finally, you said the magic word; playstation," but as he looked up he realized that both Ryan and Anna had already taken off, leaving him the task of collecting their things. "Oh, hey that's cool. I enjoy the carrying of heavy things. So this is for the best. And I'm talking to myself."

"Nice Cohen, very healthy," Summer and Marissa has made the short walk over to say hello.

"Oh, you heard that. That's…swell."

"God, you are such a geek Cohen."

"Did Ryan already leave?" asked Marissa, a little more urgently than she would have liked.

"Yeah I think he's off somewhere…looking dreamy." Marissa blushed at his joke and Summer grinned in spite of herself, but still didn't let the opportunity for a jab slip by. "Your relationship, beyond creepy."

"Yes, well. I'm going to go, and cultivate my creepy relationship."

"You need a plan." Seth told Ryan, without looking away from the epic playstation battle amongst pirates and ninjas.

"A plan?" Ryan asked with a skeptical look.

"To save Marissa from the clutches of the evil water polo demon."

"Isn't that kind of her decision?"

"Oh Ryan, poor sweet, innocent Ryan. So sweet, so innocent. Everyone needs a little nudge in the right direction every now and then. Look at you, if you hadn't gotten that nudge, you could be in prison, or worse, Chino."

"This is not like that at all. And you're meddling."

"Fine, maybe I am meddling as you call it," replied Seth as he imitated quotes in the air, "but let me throw a hypothetical at you." Seth paused for dramatic effect. "How comfortable are you with the thought of Marissa Coop and Luke Ward having sex?"

"Point taken."

"Alright, here's the plan. I say some stupid joke about his chest hair,-or lack thereof- or speedos, or Neanderthals, or…"

"Seth," Ryan admonished him in an exasperated tone.

"Right, so like I was saying, I make a stupid joke, he beats me about the face, she discovers what an assclown he is. And voila, you two make out as the sun sets."

"That's an awful, awful plan."

"What are you talking about?"

"How many times has Luke kicked your ass?" Seth begins to count in his head, but Ryan continues before he can respond, "And how many times has Marissa dumped Luke?"

"Touché. Oh, I know, I can get Anna to make out with Luke somewhere where Marissa will see them."

"Prostituting your girlfriend?"

"Is that frowned upon?" Ryan nods. "Damn, well this is clearly going to require some brainstorming. You know what that means. Seth-Ryan time. Lots and lots of Seth-Ryan time."

"That's what I was afraid of."

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"Dad, remind me again why we have to go to this stupid charity function." Seth and Sandy were standing around the kitchen, Sandy ready to go in his tuxedo, while Seth still donned a novelty shirt and chuck taylors. Sandy currently held the unenviable position of attempting to persuade Seth to get ready for the latest Newpsie function.

"Because it's important to your mother." Sandy replied, earning himself a skeptical look from Seth. "And your mother is in charge, and if you upset her, I suffer for it, if you know what I mean-"

"Dad, please this physically hurts me," Seth whined while grimacing dramatically, attempting to get the image of his parents together out of his head.

"Go get dressed."

Seth turned and headed for his room in a huff, muttering to himself something about "the things I do for this family."

As Seth left for his room, Ryan entered the kitchen from the pool house, already wearing an elegant black tuxedo to match Sandy's. Ryan simply shot Sandy a look of acknowledgement in lieu of a greeting.

"So how goes it with you?" Ryan simply responded with a look. "You excited for tonight?" Sandy continued. Ryan only shrugged. "Nothing, huh?" Sandy decided to take another approach, "Marissa Cooper will be there." At this Ryan turned a bright shade of red. "Ha, knew that would do the trick. So, you and Marissa…"

"And Luke, don't forget about Luke."

"She's still going out with him?" Ryan nodded, "and you like her?" Sandy continued. Once again Ryan nodded, though he added a sheepish grin this time. "So what's the plan?"

"The plan? You and Seth are eerily similar," replied Ryan, visibly weirded out.

Just as Sandy was about to respond Kirsten came bursting into the room. "Everyone ready to go?" she asked as she finished putting on her earrings. Both boys nodded in the affirmative. "Where's Seth?" she asked, slightly exasperated.

"I believe he's still upstairs putting his face on," replied Sandy with a grin, which quickly faded as he saw the unamused look on his wife's face. "SETH EZEKIAL! Downstairs, now!"

Seth's footsteps could be heard as he made his way down. "Seth Ezekial? Really dad? You sure you want to waste that on a Newpsie event? You don't think it will get a little watered dow-" Seth stopped in his tracks as he saw the angry look on his mother's face. "What I mean is, mother you are absolutely glowing this evening, and might I add that fragrance is enchanting."

Kirsten, however, was not swayed by his attempt, "Seth. Car. Now."

"Right, another exciting evening, anyone want to take bets on the hors d'oeuvres? Oh and I hope there's a photo op," Seth said with a grin before crossing his fingers and speaking in a high voice, "Riviera Magazine anyone!" Ryan and Sandy couldn't help but laugh, while Kirsten disciplined all three with a look.

"Am I the only one impressed by the ability of the newpsie to make mountain dew look classy?" Seth asked Anna and Ryan, who were standing next to him on the outskirts of the party. Anna laughed at his joke, but Ryan was clearly preoccupied. Seth followed Ryan's eyes to find a very bored Marissa Cooper standing with Luke and his crew of water polo jocks.

"So this is you pining? It's a good look for you Ryan," Anna teased.

"No, no this isn't pining, this is smoldering. Or is it pining? I get confused sometimes given the subtleties of your looks." Ryan finally broke his gaze at Marissa to glare at him. "Ah, but this one I'm positive, means he's threatening to kick my ass."

"Seth, leave him alone," Anna chided. "Look, why don't you go talk to her, Luke and his friends took off, she's alone now."

"She's not alone, she's with Summer," Ryan pointed out.

"Don't worry about Summer, I'll take care of her," offered Seth.

"Oh you will, will you?" Anna replied coldly.

"I don't mean it like that," Seth reassured her.

"Whatever, I'm going to the ladies room," Anna took off quickly in the opposite direction.

"Don't worry about her, I'll deal with that later," Seth told Ryan.

"Right, so do you have your game face on?" Ryan asked.

"Do people paint their faces before engaging in sports?" Seth asked, honestly confused.

Ryan rolled his eyes, "Just come on."

The two made their way over to where Marissa and Summer were standing. "Ladies," Seth greeted them before turning to Summer, "you want to grab a drink?"

"Not really," she responded simply.

Seth laughed, "This is a little game we play. Summer a drink, come on." He grabbed her hand and dragged her away before she could protest, leaving Ryan and Marissa standing alone. When they were outside of ear shot of Ryan and Marissa they stopped and faced each other.

"I thought you said we were getting a drink Cohen. We're not even at the bar," Summer complained.

"The drink was just an excuse to give them some alone time," Seth motioned towards Marissa and Ryan.

"Right," she nodded in understanding, then added "are you sure this wasn't an excuse for you to get some alone time with me? Because I'm warning you Cohen, you pull one of your geeky moves …" she trailed off with her threat.

"Right, got it. Wait, geeky moves? What is it exactly that you think geeks do? Never mind don't answer that."

Summer ignored his reply, "Anyway, Isn't pixie girl going to mind?" Summer said with a hint of jealousy, while motioning to their hands, which were still linked together.

"Right, I hadn't noticed," Seth replied as he withdrew his hand, albeit somewhat reluctantly.

"Right, uh huh," she said grinning at the way he blushed at her comment.

"Besides it's not like I'm afraid of Anna," said Seth, while attempting to look as manly as possible.

"Oh you're not are you?" Anna walked up from behind him looking none too pleased.

"Anna, this isn't what it looks like," Seth pleaded. Unfortunately both girls seemed to ignore him, and instead fixed one another with matching glares.

"Pixie," Summer greeted curtly.

"Summer," Anna responded, "I'd appreciate it if you could keep your hands off my boyfriend."

"Actually, he was the one…" Summer began, but was cut off by Seth.

"Ok, I'm sensing a lot of tension here, and do you know what I think it is?" Both girls started to respond, but Seth quickly continued, "don't answer that. I think," he paused slightly, smiling eagerly at the two girls, "I think it's just that we all haven't gotten the chance to hang out together. I'm sure if you two took the chance to get to know each other, you'd get along great." Seth attempted a large smile to diffuse the situation, but it only seemed to make the girls angrier. Both turned to stare daggers at Seth. "How about this," he was getting desperate here, dealing not only with an angry Anna, but also the far more frightening proposition of an angry Summer, "how about we all go sailing tomorrow? You know, put in some quality Seth-Summer-Anna time?"

Summer, seeing an opportunity to piss off Anna, quickly agreed. Anna, sick with the image of Summer and Seth alone on a boat together, felt that she had no choice.

"Great," Seth exclaimed while taking both of them into an awkward group hug, "there's almost no way this isn't going to be amazing."

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(Meanwhile)

"That was a pretty subtle move by Seth," joked Marissa.

"Yeah, subtlety not exactly one of his strengths," replied Ryan with a slight grin.

"So how've you been?" asked Ryan after a brief, yet still awkward silence.

"Good. And you?"

"Good."

More silence ensued.

Marissa decided to break the awkwardness after what felt like an eternity, "look this shouldn't have to be so…"

"awkward?" Ryan offered, finishing her sentence for her.

"Yeah," she responded with a small smile. "Things between me and Luke have just been so complicated. And then things between me and you…" Marissa was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a very angry, and very drunk, Luke.

"Why the hell are you always hanging around my girl?" Luke slurred.

Ryan attempted to diffuse the situation, "look man, it's not what it looks like." Unfortunately, Luke's mind had already been made up, his fist was already in the air, and quickly connected with Ryan's temple. Ryan was knocked to the ground, and by the time he got to his feet, he saw Luke being restrained and led away by a few men.

"Are you ok?" Marissa's voice had a calming effect and brought Ryan back to reality.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Just a scratch," he attempted a smile, but the pain caused him to grimace instead.

"You're not fine, here let's get you cleaned up," Marissa took his hand and quickly led him to a bathroom. Once there she sat him on the toilet and began to clean the cut on his face. Ryan whimpered as she rubbed disinfecting alcohol near the wound. "Quit being such a baby," she reprimanded him, but upon seeing the pain in his face she softened. "I'm really sorry- I can't believe that he did that. He can be such an ass sometimes."

"It's not so bad, look where it got me," he replied with a grin.

"Are you getting fresh?" she asked, attempting to sound stern, but her grinning nonetheless. "And when I have rubbing alcohol at my disposal no less?" She dabbed the cloth on his scratch for effect, eliciting a loud 'ouch' from Ryan, but his smile gave away his attempt at anger.

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A/N I know the Ryan/Marissa part was a little brief, but I wasn't really sure how to expand upon that section while showing the awkwardness of their relationship at the beginning(it will get better/more comfortable over the next few chapters, I promise). Also, I feel like I'm not writing Anna's character very well, so any suggestions on that would be welcomed. I know this story is pretty dialogue-driven so far, which is kind of just natural as that tends to come easily to me, but I'll try to work on being more descriptive (of course any suggestions in this area would also be really helpful). I should be updating pretty frequently (as in every few days, at least for the next several weeks). Oh, and this fic will probably end up being pretty lengthy in case you're curious.


	2. Chapter 2

"Ryan, are you awake?" It was 6:30 the following morning, and Seth, coffee in hand, was already in the pool house trying to log some serious Seth-Ryan time.

"Seth, it's Saturday morning" Ryan replied without opening his eyes.

"Yes, I understand that, but I'm desperate. How can you deny a friend in need on the Sabbath?" Ryan simply threw a pillow at Seth in response, but it did little to deter him. "Did I mention that I brought coffee?" At this Seth waved his mug under Ryan's nose until he saw Ryan open his eyes.

"Fine," Ryan relented, knowing that the struggle was a lost cause. "So what is it that's so urgent?" he asked as he sat up and reached for the cup of coffee.

"I have a tiny little miniscule favor to ask of you."

"And it can't wait?" Seth shook his head no. "How miniscule?"

"I need you to come sailing with me today." Ryan just shot him a look that clearly indicated he was in no way interested. "Ok here's the deal, I kind of, sort of, told Anna and Summer that we should go sailing together."

"And?"

"And that's horrible," replied Seth, amazed that Ryan didn't see the full severity of the situation. "Both of them hate me right now."

"What did you do?"

"Why do you assume it's something I did?" Seth asked, but Ryan only shot him a look and Seth held up his hands in defeat. "Ok, so Anna sort of saw me holding hands with Summer last night," Seth admitted sheepishly, causing Ryan to raise his eyebrows in response. "It was a total misunderstanding" Seth added quickly, "she's just jumping to conclusions. I'm the victim here."

"Uh huh," Ryan replied, clearly unconvinced, "so you weren't holding hands with Summer?

"No I was," Seth replied, still rather sheepishly, "Just not like that. It didn't mean anything."

"Right," Ryan once again raised an eyebrow skeptically, "and why exactly were you holding hands with Summer?" he asked with a knowing smile.

"For you buddy," Seth's face lit up with the realization, "remember I grabbed her hand to drag her away from Marissa so that you two could get some alone time. Some might say that this is all your fault. And Marissa's. Once again, I am the victim."

Ryan chose to ignore Seth's last comment, "So Anna is mad that you led Summer away from Marissa for like two seconds? That doesn't sound like her."

"Well, I might not have let go right away," admitted Seth, but upon seeing Ryan's smug grin he continued, "I just didn't notice that we were still holding hands. Summer has very small hands, Ryan. They fit very naturally in my palm."

Ryan laughed, "I can't imagine why Anna might be mad. Really it's a mystery. Just a thought; you might want to think of a better excuse for Anna. Possibly."

"Right. Exactly, this is why I need your help. Both girls are really mad-"

"Wait, why is Summer mad?"

"What do you mean?"

"I get why Anna is mad, but what did you do to Summer?"

This seemed to stump Seth for a moment. "Hmm, I'm not really sure. But then she's usually mad at me, it's kind of her thing."

"Fair enough."

"So I need you to come with us, you know to diffuse the situation. Take attention away from the overwhelming awkwardness."

"Umm, I don't really like to talk very much, how am I supposed to help?"

"At the very least you can protect me…like physically," Seth said, the last part barely above a whisper.

"You're actually scared of Summer," Ryan replied mockingly.

"She's surprisingly strong for being so petite," Seth defended himself. "And she's fiery. Besides, what if the two of them conspire against me?" Ryan only sighed, so Seth continued, "it's not like you're going to have to babysit me." Ryan shot him a skeptical look. "Hey, what if you invited Marissa? Summer's already going, and it would be an opportunity for you two to hang out."

"Alright, fine," Ryan relented rather quickly.

"Oh, suddenly we're very agreeable. I was getting so much resistance, and then… nothing. Care to share what that's all about? Did something happen last night?"

"Yeah, I got punched in the face."

"I did notice that you have a black eye."

"Thanks for asking if I'm ok," Ryan said sarcastically.

"Well, in my defense, I had a pretty major problem that we had to deal with."

"Nice to see that you have your priorities in order." Seth only responded with a sarcastic smile. "Anyway, after I got hit in the face, we just sort of hung out for a while. It was nice." Seth cupped his face in his hands mockingly, and Ryan added, "this is why I never tell you things."

"I just have one question; have you two set a date yet? Are you going for a summer or spring ceremony?" Ryan got up and made his way to the kitchen, ignoring Seth. Unfortunately, Seth just followed closely behind him, having way too much fun to stop. "Hey, fall is beautiful, or it would be if we had seasons. Oh, you could do it around Christmukkah, cause come on, we live in Orange County, it'll be 75 degrees so what's the difference? Oh, oh can I be your best man?"

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"So this is fun," Seth seemed to be attempting to convince himself as much as anything, "isn't this fun?" he asked no one in particular.

"Yeah…great," Anna replied coldly.

Seth, Summer, Anna, Marissa, and Ryan were crammed together on Seth's catamaran, which apparently was nowhere near large enough for five people. The presence of Ryan and Marissa, far from lightening the situation, had seemingly only increased the level of awkwardness.

Summer finally broke the silence, "Hey _Summer Breeze, _what a coincidence."

"Yeah, _weird," _Anna replied, glaring angrily at Seth.

"Oh, yeah that…that, well this boat was a birthday present so I guess naming it after the season just sort of seemed to fit," Seth added anxiously.

"Isn't your birthday in December?" Ryan chimed in, unable to resist.

"Did I say Birthday? I meant half-birthday," Seth quickly replied.

"Ok…" came Summer's response, rolling her eyes at his awkwardness.

Several seconds of silence followed, and Seth was getting desperate. "Fishing!" he finally exclaimed. "Who wants to fish?"

Summer grimaced at the thought of slimy, stinky fish, "Ew Cohen, fishing? That's like disgusting."

"Summer, have you never been fishing before?" Seth asked excitedly, amazed that this was even possible. His question brought a giggle out of Marissa.

Summer narrowed her eyes at the tall brunette, "what are you laughing at?"

"I'm sorry sum, it's just the visual of you fishing," Marissa responded amidst giggles, but seeing Summer's glare she added more softly, "it's just not really your kind of thing."

"I could do it if I wanted to," Summer responded defiantly, then turning to Seth, "Cohen, you're teaching me how to fish."

"Yes ma'am," Seth responded eagerly.

Anna sighed audibly at his willingness to follow Summer's command, but Seth didn't seem to notice. He quickly made his way over to Summer, and sat down beside her. "Ok the first thing we need is bait," Seth said as he took out a worm from a small Styrofoam container.

"Ew, no Cohen you are not killing that poor little worm!" Summer chastised him.

"Oh for God sakes," Anna mumbled under her breath as she quickly grabbed the worm from Seth's hand and placed it through the hook. At the sight of the worm on the hook, still attempting to crawl away, Summer let out a blood curdling scream.

"Hey it's ok, it's just a worm," Seth tried to comfort her after taking a few seconds to regain his senses.

"But she didn't have to kill it," Summer whined.

Anna glared at her, and was about to say something when Seth intervened, not wanting to see another catfight between the two girls. "Well seeing how the deed is already done, how about we make sure that the little guy didn't die in vain?" Under his breath he added, "even if it is only to help us kill something larger and tastier," but Summer didn't seem to notice.

Summer still looked mildly disgusted, but smiled at his attempt to comfort her. Anna on the other hand, was losing her mind. Why was he coddling Summer? What was this hold she seemed to have over him?

Sitting just a few feet away, observing their antics with amusement, were Ryan and Marissa. "So how long do you think it will take for those two to finally get together," Marissa asked.

"You would think it'd be any day now, but Seth is quite the coward, so I could see him dragging this out for months." Marissa laughed at the joke, but her smile quickly subsided as she thought about how his joke hit a little too close to home and her situation with Luke.

"How is your eye feeling," Marissa asked, eager to change the subject.

"I'll survive. How's Luke's fist?"

Marissa blushed in embarrassment, "I'm so sorry that he did that. Sometimes he can be such a-"

"Douchebag," interrupted Seth, startling Ryan and Marissa.

"You don't even know him…he can be very sensitive," Marissa said with a glare.

"Yes I'm sure after he finishes peeing in my shoes he goes home to write in his journal and tell you about his feelings." Marissa intensified her glare, but Seth wasn't done, "Tell me, in your opinion is Luke more skilled at hunting or gathering?" Against his better judgment, Seth decided to press the issue, "Seriously, why are you still dating him?" At this, both Anna and Summer smacked him, hard. He yelped in pain, but would receive no sympathy from either girl, both of whom were giving him evil looks.

Marissa on the other hand, was no longer angry, but embarrassed. As inappropriate as Seth's question had been, she realized that she had no answer for it.

Ryan sat down next to her and pulled her into a friendly hug, attempting to comfort her. "Hey, don't worry about Seth, half the time I think he's only talking to make sounds."

"And the other half?" She questioned.

"Definitely to hear himself talk," Ryan joked. His attempt was successful, and he earned a small smile from Marissa.

"Thanks, but that's not really what's upsetting me." She paused as he waited for her to continue, "There was some truth to what he said."

Ryan pulled her tighter into the hug, not sure of what to say.

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When they reached the dock the five quickly disembarked and made began to make their way to the parking lot. Marissa found herself walking alone, trailing behind the others. In fact, she hadn't spoken much to anyone since Seth's anti-Luke diatribe, instead losing herself in her thoughts.

She was brought back to reality by Seth's presence beside her.

"I just wanted to apologize for what I said earlier," he said. "And I want you to know that I didn't say it to be an asshole, just sometimes people need a little nudge in the right direction. I think you deserve better than a male newpsie."

She smiled at his words, "Thanks. I didn't know you could be so…"

"Serious? I have my moments. It's mostly the Sandy Cohen influence."

After a few moments of comfortable silence, she turned to him with a mischievous glint in her eye, "so when are you going to ask out Summer?"

Seth turned a deep shade of crimson, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"So you get to call me out on my relationship, but it doesn't work the other way?" she teased.

"I prefer to cast judgment on others, and ignore my own problems and hope that eventually they'll work themselves out naturally," he joked, attempting to avoid the issue.

Marissa ignored his attempt and continued to tease him, "she already has you whipped, you might as well get some benefit out of it."

Seth gave her a false hurt look, "I really don't like this side of you." Not buying his act, she continued to tease him all the way back to the car.

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A/N So hopefully that last little bit between Seth and Marissa didn't come across as too corny/out of character, but I really like the idea of them having a little bit closer friendship than how they were on the show/how they are generally portrayed. Thanks to everyone who's reading/reviewing. As always any suggestions/criticism are welcome.


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